Ellen Joe is a Shark Thiren from the world of Zenless Zone Zero(ZZZ.) She is a S-Rank Attack Specialist from the Victoria Housekeeping Company faction. She is like her favorite lollipops, hard on the outside but sweet all around, at least if you aren’t in her way. This guide will help you get her to her best, without further ado, let’s dive into it.
Ellen’s Skills
Core Skills
| Passive: Sharp-Toothed | When Ellen launches a charged scissor strike during Dash Attack: Arctic Ambush, or consumes a Flash Freeze Charge to activate Basic Attack: Flash Freeze Trimming, the skill’s CRIT DMG is increased by 50%. |
| Additional Ability: Rising Storm | When another character in your squad shares the same Attribute or Faction:
When Ellen deals Ice DMG, subsequent Ice DMG increases by 3% for 10s. This effect can stack up to 10 times, and repeated triggers reset the duration. |
Basic Attack
| Basic Attack: Saw Teeth Trimming | Press Basic Attack to activate, Unleashes up to 3 slashes, dealing Physical DMG. Press repeatedly or hold Basic Attack during the 3rd attack to extend the skill duration. |
| Basic Attack: Flash Freeze Trimming | While Flash Freeze is in effect, press Basic Attack to activate. Launch up to 3 attacks at enemies in front, dealing Ice DMG. Each attack consumes 1 Flash Freeze Charge. Press repeatedly or hold Basic Attack during the 3rd attack to extend the skill duration. |
Dodge
| Dodge: Vortex | Press Dodge to activate. A rapid dash dodge.
Character is invulnerable while using this skill. When Perfect Dodge is triggered, Ellen gains the Quick Charge effect, reducing the charge time of Dash Attack: Arctic Ambush, lasting up to 5 seconds or until it triggers once. |
| Dash: Roaming Hunt | Hold or double-tap Dodge to activate. Enter the Roaming state, allowing dashing movement. In the Roaming state, drag the joystick to control Ellen’s direction, and release to stop. Ellen is invulnerable for a brief time after activation. |
| Flash Freeze | When Ellen has Flash Freeze Charges, the Flash Freeze effect is activated. Once Flash Freeze activates, Basic Attacks and Dash Attacks expend Flash Freeze Charges, dealing massive Ice DMG. Ellen can have up to a maximum of 6 Flash Freeze Charges. |
| Dash Attack: Arctic Ambush | While in the Roaming state, press Basic Attack to activate. Delivers a spinning slash to enemies before opening her scissors for a Swift Scissor strike, dealing Ice DMG. Gain 1 point of Flash Freeze Charge when the Swift Scissor strike hits. While in the Roaming state, hold Basic Attack to activate.
Perform a spinning slash against the enemy, then pull apart the scissors to unleash a Charged Scissor strike, dealing massive Ice DMG. Gain 3 points of Flash Freeze Charge when the Charged Scissor attack hits. If the enemy is Frozen, it always triggers Shatter. The anti-Interrupt level is increased while charging the skill, and the DMG taken is reduced by 40%. Ellen becomes briefly invulnerable during the skill. |
| Dash Attack: Monstrous Wave | Press Basic Attack during a dodge to activate.
Launch a dashing slash attack at enemies in front, dealing Physical DMG. |
| Dash Attack: Cold Snap | While Flash Freeze is active, press Basic Attack during a dodge to activate:
Launches a dashing slash attack at enemies in front, dealing Ice DMG. Consumes 1 Flash Freeze Charge. |
| Dodge Counter: Reef Rock | Press Basic Attack during a Perfect Dodge to activate. Rapidly move through enemies with open scissors for a cutting strike, dealing Ice DMG. The character is invulnerable during the attack. |
Assist
| Quick Assist: Shark Sentinel | When the character on the field is knocked back, press Assist to activate.
Speedily move through the enemy with open scissors for a cutting strike, dealing Ice damage. Character is invulnerable while using this skill. When the character on the field is launched, drag Moving and press Assist to activate. Enter the Roaming state, enabling dashing movement. While in the Roaming state, use the joystick to change directions and release to stop. The character is briefly invulnerable when triggering the skill. Upon triggering a Quick Assist, Ellen gains the Quick Charge effect, shortening the charging time of Dash Attack: Arctic Ambush, lasting up to 5s or until it triggers once. |
| Defensive Assist: Wavefront Impact | When the character on the field is about to be attacked, press Assist to activate.
Parries the enemy’s attack, dealing massive Daze. Character is invulnerable while using this skill. |
| Assist Follow-Up: Shark Cruiser | Press Basic Attack after a Defensive Assist to activate.
Charge and slash enemies in front, dealing Ice DMG. Press repeatedly or hold Basic Attack during the attack to extend the skill duration. The character is invulnerable while using this skill. |
Special
| Special Attack: Drift | Press Special Attack to activate.
Use a quick tail sweep attack in front, dealing Ice DMG. The anti-interrupt level is increased while using this skill. |
| EX Special Attack: Tail Swipe | With enough energy, press Special Attack to activate.
Perform a forceful tail whip attack that deals massive Ice DMG. Gain 1 Flash Freeze Charge upon striking an enemy. After executing the move, you can directly follow up with the 3rd-hit of a Basic Attack. The character is invulnerable while using this skill. |
| EX Special Attack: Sharknami | After activating EX Special Attack: Tail Swipe, with enough Energy, press Special Attack to activate:
Unleash a series of powerful slashes forward, dealing massive Ice DMG. Gain 1 Flash Freeze Charge upon hitting an enemy. After executing the move, you can directly follow up with the 3rd-hit of a Basic Attack. The character is invulnerable while using this skill. |
Chain
| Chain Attack: Avalanche | When a Chain Attack is triggered, press the character icon to activate.
Crash down from above and unleash an ice storm, dealing massive Ice DMG. Character is invulnerable while using this skill. |
| Ultimate: Endless Winter | When the Decibel Rating is at Maximum, press Ultimate to activate. Crash down from above and unleash an ice storm before a powerful scissor strike, dealing massive Ice DMG.
The character is invulnerable while using this skill. |
Ellen being an ATK Specialist, loves to be on the field. She can output a HIGH amount of DMG. She is complemented by her higher mobility than most agents due to her Roaming Hunt state. While in this state she will acquire Flash Freeze Charges as you use her Arctic Ambush, up to a maximum of six. While it’s easy to maintain once you get the hang of it, it’s important to get the charges going so you can maintain DMG, Ellen will also be doing additional Ice buildup as she hits with Flash Freeze charges.
Her Basic Attack consists of three combos, the third part of the combo can be extended by tapping the Basic Attack button. The first and second of the combo are weaker than the first but quicker to execute. Her Special Attack follows the same three combo format, increasing up to her Sharknami attack, all the while generating a Flash Freeze Charge. Her rotation is pretty simple as far as consistency goes and while lengthy it can lead to a very high output fairly easily.
Ellen is a CRIT machine, and most of her skills lead to more CRIT DMG and RATE. We will get to that later on when we start putting together her Disk Drives and Companions. She is a force to be reckoned with while she is on the field.
Mindscapes
| M1: Glacial Omen | Upon hitting an enemy with a Swift Scissors during Dash Attack: Arctic Ambush, the obtained Flash Freeze Charges are increased to 3. Upon hitting an enemy with a Charged Scissors strike during Dash Attack: Arctic Ambush, the obtained Flash Freeze Charges are increased to 6. For each Flash Freeze Charge consumed, Ellen’s CRIT Rate is increased by 2% for 15s, stacking up to 6 times. The duration of each stack is calculated separately. |
| M2: Arctic Ocean Predator | The 3rd hit of Basic Attack: Flash Freeze Trimming can be directly followed up with EX Special Attack: Sharknami. When using an EX Special Attack, each Flash Freeze Charge increases the current attack’s CRIT DMG by 20%, up to a max of 60%. |
| M3: Overtime-Intolerant | Basic Attack, Assist, Dodge, Special Attack, and Chain Attack Lv. +2 |
| M4: Endless Hoarfrost | Whenever a squad member Freezes or Stuns an enemy, Ellen gains 6 Flash Freeze Charges and the Quick Charge effect. She also recovers 4 Energy. The Energy recovery effect can trigger once per 10s. |
| M5: Adequate Sleep | Basic Attack, Assist, Dodge, Special Attack, and Chain Attack Lv. +2 |
| M6: The Feast Begins | When Ellen uses an EX Special Attack, Chain Attack, or gains Quick Charge, her PEN Ratio increases by 20% for 6s. She also gains 1 stack of The Feast Begins, up to a maximum of 3 stacks. With 3 stacks of The Feast Begins, using a Charge Scissor Strike during Dash Attack: Arctic Ambush consumes all stacks, increasing the DMG of the current attack by 250%. |
Best W-Engine
| Deep Sea Visitor – S-Rank (S1) | Ellen’s Signature Engine and the best to compliment her style. It is a universal Engine for any Ice Attack Agent as it grants a free 24% CRIT Rate and a 25% Ice DMG increase.
It also allows for a 10% additional CRIT Rate after hitting an enemy for 8 seconds and another 10% for hitting an enemy with a Ice Dash Attack. |
| The Brimstone – S-Rank (S1) | Solder 11’s Signature Engine. It grants a 30% buff to ATK just by hitting an enemy with a Basic Attack, Dash Attack, or Dodge Counter and can stack up to 8 times. |
| Starlight Engine – A-Rank (S1) | A great Free-to-Play option, if you don’t go for her engine or can’t. Launching a Dodge Counter or Quick Assist increases the equipper’s ATK by 12%, up to 19.2% at S5, for 12s. |
Honorable Mentions would include Steel Cushion, Cannon Rotor, and Street Superstar. They are, alright, in terms of support but bottom of the barrel. The most they will give is basically what Starlight Engine would output already.
Best Disk Drives
Woodpecker Electro (WE) is her best option. WE 4-piece set with a Puffer Electro (PE) 2-piece set. As I said above, Ellen is a CRIT machine and you want to make sure that is set as high as you can get her so that way you can max out her DMG. WE will provide an 8% CRIT Rate with its 2-piece and its 4-piece will increase the equipper ATK by 9% for 6s after triggering a critical hit with a Basic Attack, Dodge Counter, or EX Special Attack. PE 2-piece will give Penetration to her attacks by 8% so some damage will always go through.
Polar Metal is another great option if you rather build Ice Damage vs CRIT Rate and you will still get a 20% damage increase passively with the Basic and Dash Attack, and after a squad member triggers Freeze or Shatter, the effect will increase by an additional 20% for 12s. PM is really useful if you have M2 Ellen, as you can replace Woodpecker completely and take up the additional damage coming from PM.
As to focus on when you get these to drop for the primary stats you want:
- Disk 4 – CRIT Rate or DMG
- Disk 5 – Ice DMG % or ATK%
- Disk 6 – ATK %
Substats will be the following: CRIT RATE > CRIT DMG > ATK % > PEN
Endgame Stats
| ATK | 2700 – 3100+ |
| HP | 9500+ |
| DEF | 780+ |
| CRIT RATE | 75 – 100% |
| CRIT DMG | 120 – 180%+ |
Skill Priority: Chain Attack > Special Attack > Basic Attack > Dodge > Assist
Team Comps
Finally, the Team Comps. Simply put, with Ellen being the DPS and the trigger-happy Agent, you want to give her as much support as you can, Lycaon and Soukaku are EASY to choose for this. Soukaku can provide a massive 1000 ATK buff with her skills and Lycaon can debuff for Ice Resistance up to 25% with his own EX Special Attack. Since Lycaon is also a Stun unit, he can make the enemies stagger and make them vulnerable to Chain Attacks.
Caesar can do the same as Soukaku with less setup and the new S-rank coming, Lighter, can do what Lycaon does but has less Ice debff at 15%. If you don’t have any of them and just Soukaku, Anby will be a great step in until you get either of them. Sharkboo and Butler will be great supports to have as bangboo.
Conclusion
Ellen is an AMAZING ATK specialist, who has swam already into several Proxy rosters. Unfortunately, there is no way to grab her at the moment until her rerun but let this build help you prepare for her for when she comes back around, as always, good luck and may the 50/50 be on your side. Right now Proxies are enjoying 1.2 with Burnice being the current pull, and 1.3 joining soon, with Yanagi and Lighter. If you play anything else from the Hoyoverse, Honkai: Star Rail just dropped their 2.6 with Rappa, you can check out my other article with that here.
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